Emotions as a state and as a trait in people with depressive disorders*

Abstract

Depression is a disorder involving a number of changes in human psychosocial functioning. The aim of this study is to evaluate the intensity of positive and negative emotions understood both as a state and a permanent personality trait in people with depressive disorders and to determine whether the intensity of positive and negative emotions differentiates healthy people from people suffering from depressive disorders. The study was conducted on 107 individuals – 67 people from the experimental group suffering from depressive disorders and 40 people from the control group with a negative interview in terms of mental and somatic disorders. The following tools were used: Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (evaluation of severity of depressive symptoms), STAI Questionnaire (evaluation of anxiety severity as a state and trait) and PANAS Questionnaire (intensity of negative and positive emotions as a state and trait). A significantly higher intensity of positive emotions understood both as a state and a trait was observed in the people not suffering from depression, while the opposite results were obtained with regard to negative emotions, i.e. the individuals suffering from depression recorded lower scores than the healthy persons. It was also shown that the people with depression had higher scores in terms of the level of anxiety as a state and trait. The intensity of positive emotions as a state was significantly higher among the people with the first depressive episode in comparison to the people with recurrent depressive disorders. The severity of depression correlated positively with the intensity of negative emotions as a state both at the time of inclusion in the study and after obtaining a response to the applied pharmacological treatment. Experienced positive and negative emotions, understood both as a state and as a trait, differentiate not only individuals with depression from healthy people, but also patients with the first depressive episode and those with recurrent depressive disorders.